Boeing Starts Space Tourism Business

The aerospace company is building a seven-person capsule that it hopes will take four NASA astronauts to the International Space Station, leaving three seats up for grabs. "The entrance of an aerospace giant like Boeing perhaps marks the transition of space tourism from a dreamy pursuit of start-up entrepreneurs to a mainstream aerospace market," the Times remarks.

The House committee envisions NASA following a traditional route, building a government-owned rocket to take astronauts to the International Space Station. Obama's version of the bill focuses on helping private companies develop commercial space travel. NASA would buy seats for their astronauts on those flights.